Estes Park News

Big fish story: Man does everything to ensure this one doesn't get away

By Tony Dobrowolski, Berkshire Eagle staff, Berkshire Eagle

Posted:
02/06/2014 12:02:54 AM MST

SHEFFIELD, Mass.– The fish was so big that it wouldn't fit through the 8-inch hole drilled in the ice on the Housatonic River.

That's why this man stuck his forearm into the icy waterway in Sheffield, Mass. to wrestle out a 35 3/4 inch, 32 pound, 2 ounce common carp.

The fish could be a world record for common carp catch and release ice fishing, a new fishing division without a current record holder.

“It takes about two to four weeks to verify the application,” said Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame business manager Kathy Polich. “If everything checks out, he will have a world record.”

Andrew Plumridge, a 41-year-old auditor for State Bank in Boston, was on his second-ever fishing trip. His first trip, also ice fishing, took place in the Berkshires last year. The huge carp was the second fish he's ever caught.

“I haven't grown up fishing,” said Plumridge, who is originally from the San Francisco area. “A friend invited me to go fishing with Paul last year. I caught a pickerel, probably a couple of pounds.”

Plumridge's four-member fishing group had caught only three fish Friday before landing the carp. It took six hours between catches before they caught the huge fish.

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